Ventura County health plan gets approval to add staff

Ventura County health care managers got permission Tuesday to hire 14 staff members to prepare for changes with the federal health overhaul.

The Board of Supervisors approved the positions for the Ventura County Health Care Plan, a county-run HMO.

Five of those jobs will be added to the staff of 47 to support operations and help the plan gain national accreditation, officials said.

Dr. Robert Gonzalez, director of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, said accreditation entails a “very rigorous” analysis by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

“It will allow us to benchmark ourselves against all the big plans,” he told the board.

The other nine jobs are conditional. They will be added if the HMO is allowed to compete for business on the California Health Benefit Exchange. The exchange, part of the health care overhaul, allows state residents to research and buy coverage.

If accepted, the county plan would be offered to people making between 200 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s about $22,000 to $44,700 for an individual and about $46,000 to $92,000 for a family of four, based on the government’s figures for 2012.

Gonzalez said he expects to know by May whether the county plan is accepted. It was established 20 years ago to provide affordable coverage via county clinics for county employees and their dependents.

The plan has served other groups in succeeding years, including low-income children in the Healthy Families program and uninsured adults. The state has shifted Healthy Families enrollees to the Medi-Cal program for the poor and disabled, and many single uninsured adults will be eligible for Medi-Cal for the first time.

County officials, however, expect to offset some of those losses with participation in the exchange.

The nine new staff members would be the minimum required to run a plan under the exchange, according to a report sent to the board. They would be managers and clerical workers who would help the public agency develop insurance product lines, build membership and provide training and education, officials said.

Gonzalez also is seeking a director for the HMO. Deputy Director Terrie Stanley resigned about a year ago, and Gonzalez took over. County Behavioral Health Director Meloney Roy has been filling in since December.